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ARA Bahía San Blas
|Ship name=''Bahía San Blas'' |Ship namesake= San Blas Bay, Buenos Aires |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Astillero Príncipe, Menghi y Penco |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship commissioned=November 1978 |Ship status=In service |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship identification= |Ship notes= }} |module2= |Ship beam= |Ship draught= |Ship propulsion= 2 Diesel Sulzer 6 ZL 40/48, , 2 shaft |Ship speed= |Ship range= |Ship complement=40 |Ship sensors= |Ship armament= |Ship armour= |Ship capacity= 120 containers |Ship notes= cargo 9,856 m^3, 6,300 Tons }} }} ARA ''Bahía San Blas'' is an Amphibious cargo ship of the Argentine Navy, capable of unloading landing craft, troops, vehicles and cargo. She is the first Argentine Navy ship to bear the name of San Blas Bay of in the south of Buenos Aires Province. Design Bahia San Blas (B-4) is one of three ''Costa Sur''-class The other ships in the class are the ARA Canal Beagle and ARA Cabo de Hornos. cargo ships ordered by the Argentine Navy in 1975, designed and built by the Argentine Príncipe, Menghi y Penco shipyard, at Buenos Aires, Argentina. The design is optimised for Patagonic coastal service. Bahia San Blas has a steel hull and the superstructure at the stern, with a single mast and a single funnel atop, behind the bridge; the cargo area is located in the middle of the ship and three “Liebherr” cranes serve the three holds, one each. One 5 Ton crane servers hold 1, and two 12.5 Ton serve holds 2 and 3; these can be used simultaneously to provide a 25 Ton lifting capacity into either hold 2 or 3. She has a bulk cargo capacity of 9,856 m^3 or 6,300 Tons (e.g.: coal, cereals, live cattle), and can carry up to 140 containers. Bahia San Blas is powered by two 6-cylinder Sulzer 6 ZL 40/48 marine diesel engines of 3200 hp each, driving two Variable-pitch propellers; with a maximum speed of 16.5 kn. History Bahia San Blas is a ''Costa Sur''-class vessel built at Astilleros Príncipe, Menghi y Penco at Buenos Aires in 1978 entering service on November of that year in the Transport Maritime service of the Argentine Navy. The other ships of the class are the [[ARA Canal Beagle (B-3)|ARA Canal Beagle]] and [[ARA Cabo de Hornos (B-5)|ARA Cabo de Hornos]]. In 1991 she was deployed to the Persian Gulf during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm carrying humanitarian aid and providing logistic support to the Argentine warships in the area. In 1992 Bahia San Blas transported back from the Gulf of Fonseca the four Baradero-class patrol boats used under United Nations mandate ONUCA. After the retirement of the [[ARA Cabo San Antonio (Q-42)|ARA Cabo San Antonio]], San Blas became the main vessel for use by the Argentine Marines receiving several modifications. Since 2004, an Argentine contingent was deployed to Haiti under MINUSTAH mandate and the San Blas has been used for logistic support making several voyages to the Caribbean island.Operación Haití: misión de paz en el Caribe (accessed 2017-01-14) As of late 2016, Bahia San Blas remains in service with the Argentine Navy. Footnotes References Notes Bibliography * Further reading * External links * Argentine Navy official site, Costa Sur class page * Bahia San Blas at Histarmar Category:Cargo ships Category:Costa Sur class cargo ships Category:Amphibious warfare vessels of the Argentine Navy Category:Transports of the Argentine Navy Category:Ships built in Argentina Category:Gulf War ships of Argentina Category:1978 ships